


this piece of you and me

by BloodRaven55



Category: RWBY
Genre: But also, Canon Compliant, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Heavy Angst, One Shot, Volume 7 (RWBY), and a good dose of, but only a little lol, in some parts, oh did i mention there's also a tiny dash of, there are no spoilers really tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-28
Updated: 2019-11-28
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:28:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21588391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BloodRaven55/pseuds/BloodRaven55
Summary: They start going out together more regularly after that, both wanting to spend time with just the two of them which doesn’t end in a bar fight or an explosion, as much as Blake enjoys the occasional venture into law-breaking. Yang offers to choose somewhere quieter for the next time to make it up to her, but Blake wants to see more of the awkward, flustered side to her partner that only really seems to come out around her, and so she offers a smirk instead.“Tempting. But I believe it’s my turn to take you out this time.”
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long
Comments: 14
Kudos: 177





	this piece of you and me

**Author's Note:**

> This is shamelessly self indulgent and totally inspired by the issue of the DC comics that came out today so uh... enjoy!

The bottle top is faded as Blake runs her thumb over the smooth metal, and it feels far too heavy in her hand. She wants so badly to keep it—yearns to allow herself the comfort of holding onto this one last link to Yang—but she can’t. Yang is no longer hers to think of, hers to love, hers to destroy, and she can’t risk her selfishness bringing any more pain. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, trying to burn the image of Yang’s face into her memory— to create a permanent reminder of why she can never let this happen again.

And then she opens her eyes and throws the final piece of her partner—her _ex_ -partner—that she will ever possess into the sea, wishing the ocean could wash away the suffering she’s caused as easily as it washes away her memento from their first date.

* * *

_They start going out together more regularly after that, both wanting to spend time with just the two of them which doesn’t end in a bar fight or an explosion, as much as Blake enjoys the occasional venture into law-breaking. Yang offers to choose somewhere quieter for the next time to make it up to her, but Blake wants to see more of the awkward, flustered side to her partner that only really seems to come out around her, and so she offers a smirk instead._

_“Tempting. But I believe it’s my turn to take you out this time.”_

_Yang’s cheeks turn pink, and she opens and closes her mouth a few times before she finally manages to speak, seeming almost tongue-tied. “I’d— yeah, th-that sounds great!”_

_Blake picks out an establishment vaguely similar to the one Yang chose, but hopefully with significantly less chance of their night being interrupted by thugs out for payback. This bar is more her speed anyway— a shady hole in the wall type of place with plenty of booze but no questions asked. It reminds her of where she used to go to celebrate with her fellow Brothers and Sisters in the White Fang after a successful mission._

_She has fond memories of beating Ilia at pool and sneaking a single shot of liquor each once they were a little older—some of her only good memories from that part of her life—and they’re mercifully untainted by Adam. He never came with the younger members to mark their victories, preferring to plan the next mission instead, though that wouldn’t stop him from… discouraging her from staying out too late. Or from having what he deemed to be too much fun without him._

_Still, she can look back on her visits to places like this with a measure of happiness, and she’s eager to introduce Yang to this side of her life after sharing so much about her more traditional hobbies last time. So she leads Yang over to the bar and takes a seat, planting her hand on the stained wood of the bar top with more force than necessary and adjusting her posture to resemble that of someone ready for a fight rather than someone out for a casual drink with a friend._

_It works, and the bartender is quick to give her his full attention. “A pint of whatever’s on tap for my date,” she says, her voice pitching lower and harder on instinct. “And I’ll have… a shot of the strongest thing you’ve got.”_

_He grabs some glasses from under the counter, starting on their drinks without delay, but he raises a curious eyebrow, and Blake can predict the comment before he even makes it. “If you don’t mind my saying, this isn’t normally somewhere people come for a romantic evening.”_

_Blake stares him down. “Do we really strike you as a ‘normal’ couple?”_

_He shrugs his shoulders, backing down. “I suppose not. Just don’t come complaining if you or your girl get into trouble.”_

_“I can look after myself,” Yang interjects as he pushes her now-full glass across the bar towards her, and if Blake didn’t know better she could swear that there’s a faint blush on her partner’s cheeks._

_She feels her own face heat up as she realises that her little romantic act to keep away unwanted attention means that they’ll actually have to act like a couple, but if it means she gets to call Yang her girl for the next few hours then maybe it won’t be so bad. Besides, someone like Yang would never actually settle for someone like her, so it’s not like there’s any risk of making things weird between them._

_Her own glass is handed over before her thoughts can stray too far, and she makes eye contact with Yang, winking at her before downing the bright amber liquid in one smooth swallow. Yang is staring in a mixture of shock and awe, and Blake tells herself that the warmth pooling in her stomach is just the alcohol and nothing more. She’s only felt like this once before, and there can’t ever be a second time._

_“So, have you read any more of The Man with Two Souls yet?” she asks, attempting to distract herself, and Yang glances sheepishly down into her drink._

_“A little bit. I’m finding it kinda hard-going, though, to be honest. It’s just not really clicking for me, y’know?”_

That’s probably for the best, _Blake thinks. If she was wrong to think that Yang would understand, then it will make it that much easier not to let herself get too close._

* * *

“I— I finished the book,” Yang says quietly. “Y’know, the one you lent me back at Beacon.”

They’ve been sat next to each other on Blake’s bed for the past half hour at least, trying to figure out where to start the talk that they both know they need to have. Blake looks up at her partner’s words to meet Yang’s eyes, struggling to quell the glimmer of hope igniting in her chest. Yang wasn’t ever able to get through the novel when Blake first leant it to her, so maybe if she’d reached the end now that meant that—

“What did you think?” Blake asks, voice catching ever so slightly.

Yang’s hand comes to rest over hers, and Blake leans in to gently nudge their foreheads together, swallowing hard as a lump forms in her throat. “I get it now,” Yang tells her, breath warm against her lips. “I had an— an _idea_ before, but I— I didn’t _know_. And now I do and— and I’m here. For as long as you want me.” There’s a beat where Blake thinks she’s not going to say anything else, but then Yang adds two more words, her voice hardly above a whisper. “I promise.”

Blake lets out a watery laugh. “Magic words, right?”

Yang smiles, wide and radiant, clearly touched that Blake remembers details from Beacon that feel like a whole lifetime ago now, and Blake is talking before she can stop herself. “Actually, there’s— there’s something I want to tell you too.” Her partner stays patient, just watching her curiously, and Blake forces the words out even though they hurt. “You remember the first time we went out together?”

“Of course. We went to a bar and got Sunflower Pops. Gods, I thought I was so _cool_ but really I just made a complete fool of myself.”

Blake chuckles, shaking her head. “It was fun. _I_ had fun. W-With you.” She pauses, feeling the atmosphere grow heavy again. “So much that I— I kept the bottle cap for a long time.”

Yang’s eyes widen, and it takes almost a minute for her to reply. “How— How long exactly?” she asks, the faint blush that Blake has come to adore spreading across her face.

“Until—” Blake knows what will come next if she admits this, but Yang deserves to know the truth— deserves to know how much every single second of their time together means to her. “I kept it until just after the Fall of Beacon. I nearly forgot about it in the chaos, but then when I was on the first boat on my way to Menagerie, I— I found it again.”

“Oh.” Yang’s tone is unreadable, and Blake pushes on before she loses her nerve.

“It— Yang, it _hurt_ too much. I couldn’t— I couldn’t live with that reminder of th-the one thing I could never have. Or that I _thought_ I could never have. So I— I threw it overboard. Because I s-stupidly believed that it would keep you safer. And t-to punish myself for ever falling in l-love with you—”

She’s said everything that she needs to say, and she gives up, burying her face in her hands as the sobs wrack her body. Yang pulls her into a loose hug without a word, just reminding her that she’s not alone, and Blake wraps her arms around her in return to hold her properly, closing the fraction of distance that was still between them. She’s not even sure why she’s crying anymore, when they’re together with no more demons to plague them— maybe she’s crying for what could have been, if Beacon hadn’t fallen, or if the mask of a monster had never made its way into her life.

But there are too many different possibilities to count, as many worse as better, and living with an echo is almost worse than not living at all. She would know— she lived with an echo of herself for years, believing it to be the whole of who she could be, but not now. Eventually she runs out of tears, and she pulls back enough to make eye contact, She can instantly tell that Yang was crying too, and for a second she’s paralysed by guilt—the fear that she shouldn’t have told her—but then her partner’s hands cup her face, grounding her.

Yang’s eyes flicker down to her lips for the briefest of moments—those beautiful, vibrant lilac eyes—and Blake is kissing her before she’s made a conscious decision to move.

It’s clumsy but soft, _gentle_ —everything Blake ever wanted her first kiss to be and everything her actual first kiss wasn’t—but she’s suddenly very aware that she should have asked, and she makes herself withdraw far too soon even though every fibre of her being is screaming otherwise. “Is this okay?” she murmurs, and if Yang’s disappointed whine when she broke the kiss wasn’t answer enough, then the nod that follows definitely is.

Yang adjusts the angle slightly, tilting Blake’s chin up a fraction to fix the initial awkward position, and Blake kisses her again, warmer and more solid now that they’ve already done it once. Yang lets out a tiny hum of approval, the sound tender and yearning in a way that tugs at Blake’s heart, and Blake’s hands fall to her waist, pulling her closer as she deepens the kiss a little.

They’re both panting when they finally separate, not from lack of breath but from the way Blake can hear their hearts pounding the same exhilarated beat in their chests, and she can’t resist leaning in for one final peck, wanting to make the feeling of closeness last. Yang follows when she pulls away, making Blake giggle by bumping their noses together, and then her partner draws in a deep, shaky breath.

“When I finally got to the end of that book— do you know what my first thought was, Blake?” Yang doesn’t give her a chance to guess, rushing nervously onwards to the answer. “It was— It was that you were the person I wanted to build a life with.”

The weight of the words hangs in the air, and Blake can hardly process them to begin with. She knows it isn’t a proposal—they only just had their first kiss and they’re still far too young, plus there’s no ring—but it feels like something permanent all the same, and her soul feels like it’s overflowing with love for this golden woman. Yang’s gone quiet, waiting for some sort of response, and Blake smiles.

“Why do you think I kept that tiny bottle cap for months, Yang? Why do you think I asked to know your favourite story? I wanted a piece of you the same way that you already had a piece of me. I can’t take back that piece of me I gave to you. I wouldn’t want to.”

“You love me,” Yang says, somewhere between a question and a statement.

“Yes.” Blake rolls her eyes. “That’s what I was trying to say.”

“Good.”

“Good? Just ‘good’?” Blake teases.

“Yeah.” Yang grins. “Good. Because we’re on the same page.”

Blake gives a long-suffering sigh, but she takes Yang’s hand anyway, interweaving their fingers. “You’re such a nerd.”

“That’s true,” Yang says, and even though Blake can already tell what’s coming next it still warms her heart. “But I’m your nerd.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope y'all enjoyed and I'll see you lovely people next time! As always please feel free to leave a comment as all feedback except for non-constructive criticism is not just welcomed but greatly appreciated :)


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